NEWS
The Thunder City collection of cold-war era British jets owned by the now deceased Mike Beachy Head has been sold out of his estate. MIKE BEACHY HEAD DIED aged 59 of a heart attack in May 2016 and as the driving force behind the maintenance and flying of this collection of jets, they died with him. The jets include three English Electric Lightnings, three Blackburn Buccaneers and three Hawker Hunters as well as a Jet Provost. After a while the Thunder City Hangar was sold and the irreplaceable jets were moved outside, where they stood exposed to the weather for five years.
S2B ZU-BCR (former RAF XW987) were started on 13 January 2022. Given how long they had been standing, this is a considerable achievement and testimony to the quality and skills of the engineers still available to work on the aircraft.
salvation arrived in the form of Jay Smit h
With each year that passed, the chances of any of the aircraft being returned to flying condition decreased. Especially the vastly complex and powerful English Electric Lightnings and Blackburn Buccaneers. The situation was grim.
Jay Smith says that he hopes to get as many of the aircraft flying as possible for use in an air to air combat school similar to Draken in the USA. Negotiations will hopefully be finalised to move the collection to a large hangar in Cape Town, where the staff at Hangar 51 will be able to work their magic on these iconic jets.j
Then, at the end of 2021, salvation arrived in the form of Jay Smith, an oil entrepreneur who had sold his business and has a passion for fast jets. Jay Smith says he and his Hangar 51 Aviation business are committed to getting the jets back in the air. A big step forward was made when the two Rolls Royce Spey engines of Buccaneer
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February 2022
Hangar 51's Vincent Nagel with Gavin McKellar, a former SAAF Buccaneer pilot.
